Alexis Liberovsky
Archivist / Director
PO Box 675
Syosset, NY 11791
Delivery Address via Fedex and UPS:
6850 N. Hempstead Turnpike
Syosset, NY 11791
Office: 516-922-0550, ext. 121
Fax: 516-922-0954
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Alexis Liberovsky has been the Archivist of the Orthodox Church in America since 1988. He currently also serves as Director of the Office of History and Archives, Secretary of the OCA Canonization Commission, Recording Secretary of the Metropolitan Council, Secretary of the OCA Archives Advisory Committee and member of the Statute Revision Task Force.
He was born in Montreal, Canada, where he was raised in a Russian-speaking home. His family attended SS. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox (OCA) Cathedral, where, from an early age, Alexis was active as an acolyte, reader and subdeacon. Following graduation from Loyola High School in Montreal, Mr. Liberovsky enrolled at the renowned Saint Sergius Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris, France, where he would later serve as president of the student body. Having defended his thesis on the history of the Orthodox Church in Canada, written in Russian, he received a Licence (M.Div.) degree from St. Sergius Institute in 1982. After pursuing further studies, focused on church history, at Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood (Yonkers), NY, he was hired as OCA Archivist in 1988. He received initial archival training at the National Archives in Washington, DC, and more recently at the Saints Cyril and Methodius Graduate and Doctoral School of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Moscow State History and Archives Institute of the Russian State University for the Humanities (RGGU) and the State Archives of the Russian Federation.
In his work as OCA Archivist, Mr. Liberovsky has managed and developed the growing historical collections of the OCA Archives, has provided historical information and documentation to countless researchers, and has published articles based on his own historical research in church and other publications as well as the internet. Concurrently with his duties as OCA Archivist, he has held other positions including: secretary of the OCA Department of History and Archives, member of the OCA Bicentennial Commission, secretary of both the OCA and the Joint OCA-Antiochian Archdiocese Canonization Commissions, Director of the OCA Office of History and Archives, member of the special commission for preparation for the election of the Metropolitan in 2002, consultant to the OCA Commission for dialogue with ROCOR (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia), recording secretary for the OCA Metropolitan Council, notary for ecclesiastical courts and Chairman of the Secretariat at the 17th All-American Council. He has prepared a number of historical exhibits at All-American Councils and other significant events. Special projects he has coordinated or been involved in have included the preparations for the glorification of new American Orthodox saints, preparations and research for the election and enthronement of the OCA Primate in 2002, video productions, OCA participation in the Orthodox Encyclopedia being published in Russia, text and photo editing as well as translation and proofreading for numerous publications, supplying historical materials for the OCA website, preparations for the bicentennial of Orthodoxy in North America in 1994 and humanitarian aid efforts.
His current projects include coordination of the work of the Archives Advisory Committee, a panel of experts that is assessing the housing, preservation and access needs of the OCA Archives and developing strategic solutions. In the Statute Revision Task Force, his focus is to provide appropriate historical reference material for the work of this body, which is drafting a comprehensive revision of the OCA Statute.
Additionally, he has assisted dioceses, parishes and institutions in organizing their own archival collections. He has also lectured on historical topics in the US and abroad, thereby sharing the historical vision of the OCA. He is a regular contributor of articles on historical topics for the OCA news magazine The Orthodox Church. A particularly important aspect of his work as OCA Archivist is to provide, when requested, archival documentation or historical background reports for the Metropolitan, the Holy Synod, All-American Councils, Metropolitan Council and other OCA officials and administrative bodies to facilitate their decision-making processes.
With fluency in Russian and French in addition to English and a working knowledge of several other languages, Mr. Liberovsky’s language skills have often been put to use in translation and interpretation for the OCA. Due to these linguistic abilities, Mr. Liberovsky has facilitated the organization of visits of foreign church emissaries to the United States and of OCA delegations abroad.
In 2000, he was awarded an honorary citation by the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America, and in 2002, he received the Order of St, Innocent, Enlightener of Alaska (bronze medal) from His Beatitude, Metropolitan Theodosius, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America.
Mr. Liberovsky and his wife, Zinaida, are the parents of three adult children.